Game Preview: Pistons Face Rockets in Desperate Need of a Win

The Detroit Pistons (6-8) play the Houston Rockets(8-5) tonight at 7:30pm EST. The Pistons are the home team, playing at The Palace of Auburn Hills tonight. Detroit is in desperate need of a win.

The Rockets took down the Utah Jazz in their last game, winning the contest 111-102. The Jazz attempted a late comeback, but James Harden was too much in the end. He dropped 31 points and 10 assists in the win, including the game-winning three-pointer. Rockets center Clint Capela had a career game, scoring 20 points, a career high in the win.

The Rockets bench is stellar compared to last year. They truly are one of the best benches in the league. Eric Gordon scored 20 points in the game. He is averaging 16.5 points off the bench this season, and doing so while shooting 39.6% from the three-point line. Nene scored 16 points off the bench and also corraled six rebounds. No one else on the team scored more than six points in the game. Patrick Beverly is back for the Rockets. He played his first game of the season against Portland last week. Against the Jazz, he scored five points and assisted on six shots.

The Pistons continue to lose. Detroit suffered their first home loss of the season on Saturday to the Boston Celtics. Al Horford hit a game-winning shot off an offensive rebound with 1.3 seconds left to give the Celtics the lead. Andre Drummond scored 20 points and grabbed 17 boards in the loss. Marcus Morris dropped 24 points, while Tobias Harris contributed 19 points. Ish Smith had his first solid game in what seems like forever, scoring 12 points and dropping seven dimes.

Stanley Johnson was a DNP-CD against the Celtics, as Reggie Bullock took his spot in the rotation. Bullock scored five points and grabbed three rebounds.

Probable Starting Lineups:

Detroit Pistons

PG: Ish Smith

SG: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

SF: Marcus Morris

PF: Tobias Harris

C: Andre Drummond

Houston Rockets

PG: James Harden

SG: Patrick Beverley

SF: Trevor Ariza

PF: Ryan Anderson

C: Clint Capela

This game could be considered a must-win for Detroit. They are now two games under .500 and Reggie Jackson is still at least a week or so away from returning. They need to stay near .500 and playing a vulnerable Rockets team is a game that Detroit can take.